Lois McMaster Bujold - Vorkosigan 09 - Mirror Dance

By Lloyd Edwards,2014-10-31 10:46

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Lois McMaster Bujold - Vorkosigan 09 - Mirror Dance

CHAPTER ONE

The row of comconsole booths lining the passenger concourse of Escobar's largest commercialorbital transfer station had mirrored doors, divided into diagonal sections by rainbow-coloredlines of lights. Doubtless someone's idea of decor. The mirror-sections were deliberately setslightly out of alignment, fragmenting their reflections. The short man in the grey and whitemilitary uniform scowled at his divided self framed therein.

His image scowled back. The insignia-less mercenary officer's undress kit—pocketed jacket,loose trousers tucked into ankle-topping boots—was correct in every detail. He studied thebody under the uniform. A stretched-out dwarf with a twisted spine, short-necked, big-headed.Subtly deformed, and robbed by his short stature of any chance of the disturbing near-rightnesspassing unnoticed. His dark hair was neatly trimmed. Beneath black brows, the grey eyes' glowerdeepened. The body, too, was correct in every detail. He hated it.

The mirrored door slid up at last, and a woman exited the booth. She wore a soft wrap tunic andflowing trousers. A fashionable bandolier of expensive electronic equipment hangingdecoratively on a jeweled chain across her torso advertised her status. Her beginning stridewas arrested at the sight of him, and she recoiled, buffeted by his black and hollow stare,then went carefully around him with a mumbled, "Excuse me ... I'm sorry. ..."

He belatedly twisted up his mouth on an imitation smile, and muttered something half-inaudibleconveying enough allegiance to the social proprieties for him to pass by. He hit the keypad tolower the door again, sealing himself from sight. Alone- at last, for one last moment, if onlyin the narrow confines of a commercial comm booth. The woman's perfume lingered cloyingly inthe air, along with a frisson of station odors; recycled air, food, bodies, stress, plasticsand metals and cleaning compounds. He exhaled, and sat, and laid his hands out flat on thesmall countertop to still their trembling.

Not quite alone. There was another damned mirror in here, for the convenience of patronswishing to check their appearance before transmitting it by holovid. His dark-ringed eyesflashed back at him malevolently, then he ignored the image. He emptied his pockets out ontothe countertop. All his worldly resources fit neatly into a space little larger than his twospread palms. One last inventory. As if counting it again might change the sum ...

A credit chit with about three hundred Betan dollars remaining upon it: one might live well fora week upon this orbital space station for that much, or for a couple of lean months on theplanet turning below, if it were carefully managed. Three false identification chits, none forthe man he was now. None for the man he was. Whoever he was. An ordinary plastic pocket comb. Adata cube. That was all. He returned all but the credit chit to various pockets upon and in thejacket, gravely sorting them individually. He ran out of objects before he ran out of pockets,and snorted. You might at least have brought your own toothbrush ... too late now.

And getting later. Horrors happened, proceeding unchecked, while he sat struggling for nerve. Come on. You've done this before. You can do it now. He jammed the credit card into the slot,

and keyed in the carefully memorized code number. Compulsively, he glanced one last time intothe mirror, and tried to smooth his features into something approaching a neutral expression.For all his practice, he did not think he could manage the grin just now. He despised that grinanyway.

The vid plate hissed to life, and a woman's visage formed above it. She wore grey-and-whiteslike his own, but with proper rank insignia and name patch. She recited crisply, "Comm OfficerHereld, Triumph, Dendarii Free ... Corporation." In Escobaran space, a mercenary fleet sealedits weapons at the Outside jumppoint station under the watchful eyes of the Escobaran militaryinspectors, and submitted proof of its purely commercial intentions, before it was even allowedto pass. The polite fiction was maintained, apparently, in Escobar orbit.

He moistened his lips, and said evenly, "Connect me with the officer of the watch, please."

"Admiral Naismith, sir! You're back!" Even over the holovid a blast of pleasure and excitementwashed out from her straightened posture and beaming face. It struck him like a blow. "What's

up? Are we going to be moving out soon?"

"In good time, Lieutenant ... Hereld." An apt name for a communications officer. He managed totwitch a smile. Admiral Naismith would smile, yes. "You'll learn in good time. In themeanwhile, I want a pick-up at the orbital transfer station."

"Yes, sir. I can get that for you. Is Captain Quinn with you?"

"Uh ... no."

"When will she be following?"

"... Later."

"Right, sir. Let me just get clearance for—are we loading any equipment?"

"No. Just myself."

"Clearance from the Escobarans for a personnel pod, then ..." she turned aside for a fewmoments. "I can have someone at docking bay E17 in about twenty minutes."

"Very well." It would take him almost that long to get from this concourse to that arm of thestation. Ought he to add some personal word for Lieutenant Hereld? She knew him; how well didshe know him? Every sentence that fell from his lips from this point on packed risk, risk ofthe unknown, risk of a mistake. Mistakes were punished. Was his Betan accent really right? Hehated this, with a stomach-churning terror. "I want to be transferred directly to the Ariel."

"Right, sir. Do you wish me to notify Captain Thorne?"

Was Admiral Naismith often in the habit of springing surprise inspections? Well, not this time."Yes, do. Tell them to make ready to break orbit."

"Only the Ariel?" Her brows rose.

"Yes, Lieutenant." This, in quite a perfect bored Betan drawl. He congratulated himself as shegrew palpably prim. The undertone had suggested just the right hint of criticism of a breach ofsecurity, or manners, or both, to suppress further dangerous questions.

"Will do, Admiral."

"Naismith out." He cut the comm. She vanished in a haze of sparkles, and he let out a longbreath. Admiral Naismith. Miles Naismith. He had to get used to responding to that name again,even in his sleep. Leave the Lord Vorkosigan part completely out of it, for now; it wasdifficult enough just being the Naismith half of the man. Drill. What is your name? Miles.Miles. Miles.

Lord Vorkosigan pretended to be Admiral Naismith. And so did he. What, after all, was thedifference?

But what is your name really?

His vision darkened in a rush of despair, and rage. He blinked it back, controlling hisbreathing. My name is what I will. And right now I will it to be Miles Naismith.

He exited the booth and strode down the concourse, short legs pumping, both riveting andrepelling the sideways stares of startled strangers. See Miles. See Miles run. See Miles get

He marched head-down, and no one got in his way.what he deserves.

He ducked into the personnel pod, a tiny four-man shuttle, as soon as the hatch seal sensorsblinked green and the door dilated. He hit the keypad for it to close again behind himimmediately. The pod was too little to maintain a grav field. He floated over the seats andpulled himself carefully down into the one beside the lone pilot, a mail in Dendarii grey techcoveralls.

"All right. Let's go."

The pilot grinned and sketched him a salute as he strapped in. Otherwise appearing to be asensible adult male, he had the same look on his face as the comm officer, Hereld; excited,breathless, watching eagerly, as if his passenger were about to pull treats from his pockets.

He glanced over his shoulder as the pod obediently broke free of the docking clamps and turned.They swooped away from the skin of the station into clear space. The traffic control patternsmade a maze of colored lights on the navigation console, through which the pilot swiftlythreaded them.

"Good to see you back, Admiral," said the pilot as soon as the tangle grew less thick. "What'shappening?"

The edge of formality in the pilot's tone was reassuring. Just a comrade in arms, not one ofthe Dear Old Friends, or worse, Dear Old Lovers. He essayed an evasion. "When you need to know,you'll be told." He made his tone affable, but avoided names or ranks.

The pilot vented an intrigued "Hm," and smirked, apparently contented.

He settled back with a tight smile. The huge transfer station fell away silently behind them,shrinking into a mad child's toy, then into a few glints of light. "Excuse me. I'm a littletired." He settled down further into his seat and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when we dock, ifI fall asleep."

"Yes, sir," said the pilot respectfully. "You look like you could use it."

He acknowledged this with a tired wave of his hand, and pretended to doze.

He could always tell, instantly, when someone he met thought they were facing "Naismith." Theyall had that same stupid hyper-alert glow in their faces. They weren't all worshipful; he'd

met some of Naismith's enemies once, but worshipful or homicidal, they reacted. As if theysuddenly switched on, and became ten times more alive than ever before. How the hell did he doit? Make people light up like that? Granted, Naismith was a goddamn hyperactive, but how did hemake it so freaking contagious?

Strangers who met him as himself did not greet him like that. They were blank and courteous,

or blank and rude, or just blank, closed and indifferent. Covertly uncomfortable with hisslight deformities, and his obviously abnormal four-foot-nine-inch height. Wary.

His resentment boiled up behind his eyes like sinus pain. All this bloody hero-worship, orwhatever it was. All for Naismith. For Naismith, and not for me ... never for me... .

He stifled a twinge of dread, knowing what he was about to face. Bel Thorne, the Ariel's

captain, would be another one. Friend, officer, fellow Betan, yes, a tough test, well enough.But Thorne also knew of the existence of the clone, from that chaotic encounter two years agoon Earth. They had never met face to face. But a mistake that another Dendarii might dismiss inconfusion could trigger in Thorne the suspicion, the wild surmise... .

Even that distinction Naismith had stolen from him. The mercenary admiral, publicly andfalsely, now claimed to be a clone himself. A superior cover, concealing his other identity,his other life. You have two lives, he thought to his absent enemy. I have none. I'm the

real clone, damn it. Couldn't I have even that uniqueness? Did you have to take it all?

No. Keep his thoughts positive. He could handle Thorne. As long as he could avoid theterrifying Quinn, the bodyguard, the lover, Quinn. He had met Quinn face to face on Earth,

and fooled her once, for a whole morning. Not twice, he didn't think. But Quinn was with thereal Miles Naismith, stuck like glue; he was safe from her. No old lovers this trip.

He'd never had a lover, not yet. It was perhaps not quite fair to blame Naismith for that aswell. For the first twenty years of his life he had been in effect a prisoner, though he hadn'talways realized it. For the last two ... the last two years had been one continuous disaster,he decided bitterly. This was his last chance. He refused to think beyond. No more. This had tobe made to work.

The pilot stirred, beside him, and he slitted open his eyes as the deceleration pressed himagainst his seat straps. They were coming up on the Ariel. It grew from a dot to a model to a

ship. The Illyrican-built light cruiser carried a crew of twenty, plus room for supercargo anda commando squad. Heavily powered for its size, an energy profile typical of warships. Itlooked swift, almost rakish. A good courier ship; a good ship to run like hell in. Perfect.

Despite his black mood, his lips curled up, as he studied that ship. Now I take, and you give,

Naismith.

The pilot, clearly quite conscious that he was conveying his admiral, brought the personnel podinto its docking clamps with a bare click, eat and smooth as humanly possible. "Shall I wait,sir?"

"No. I shouldn't be needing you again."

The pilot hurried to adjust the tube seals while his passenger was till unbuckling, and salutedhim out with another idiot broad proud mile. He twitched a returning smile and salute, thengrasped the handlebars above the hatch and swung himself into the Ariel's gravity field.

He dropped neatly to his feet in a small loading bay. Behind him, he pod pilot was already re-sealing the hatch to return himself and his pod to its vessel of origin, probably the flagship

Triumph. He looked up — always, up — into the face of the waiting Dendarii officer, face hehad studied before this only in a holovid.

Captain Bel Thorne was a Betan hermaphrodite, a race that was remnant of an early experiment inhuman genetic and social engineering that had succeeded only in creating another minority.Thorne's beardless face was framed by soft brown hair in a short, ambiguous cut that either aman or a woman might sport. Its officer's jacket hung open, revealing the black tee shirtunderneath curving over modest but distinctly feminine breasts. The gray Dendarii uniformtrousers were loose enough to disguise the reciprocal bulge in he crotch. Some people foundhermaphrodites enormously disturbing. He was relieved to realize he found that aspect of Thorneonly slightly disconcerting. Clones who live in glass houses shouldn't throw ... what? It was

the radiant I-love-Naismith look on the hermaphrodite's face that really bothered him. His gutknotted, as he returned the Ariel's captain's salute.

"Welcome aboard, sir!" The alto voice was vibrant with enthusiasm.

He was just managing a stiff smile, when the hermaphrodite stepped up and embraced him. Hisheart lurched, and he barely choked off a cry and a violent, defensive lashing-out. He enduredhe embrace without going rigid, grasping mentally after shattered composure and his carefullyrehearsed speeches. It's not going to kiss me, is it?!

The hermaphrodite set him at arm's length, hands familiarly upon his shoulders, without doingso, however. He breathed relief. Thorne cocked its head, its lips twisting in puzzlement."What's wrong, Miles?"

First names? "Sorry, Bel. I'm just a little tired. Can we get right to the briefing?"

“You look a lot tired. Right. Do you want me to assemble the whole crew?"

No ... you can re-brief them as needed." That was the plan, as little direct contact with asfew Dendarii as possible.

"Come to my cabin, then, and you can put your feet up and drink tea while we talk."

The hermaphrodite followed him into the corridor. Not knowing which direction to turn, hewheeled and waited as if politely for Thorne to lead on. He trailed the Dendarii officerthrough a couple of twists and turns and up a level. The ship's internal architecture was notas cramped as he'd expected. He noted directions carefully. Naismith knew this ship well.

The Ariel's captain's cabin was a neat little chamber, soldierly, not revealing much on thisside of the latched cupboard doors about the personality of its owner. But Thorne unlatched oneto display an antique ceramic tea set and a couple of dozen small canisters of varietal teas ofEarth and other planetary origins, all protected from breakage by custom-made foam packing."What kind?" Thorne called, its hand hovering over the canisters.

"The usual," he replied, easing into a station chair clamped to the floor beside a small table.

"Might have guessed. I swear I'll train you to be more venturesome one of these days." Thorneshot a peculiar grin over its shoulder at him—was that intended to be some sort of doubleentendre? After a bit more rattling about, Thorne placed a delicately hand-painted porcelaincup and saucer upon the table at his elbow. He picked it up and sipped cautiously as Thorne

hooked another chair into its clamps a quarter turn around the table, produced a cup foritself, and sat with a small grunt of satisfaction.

He was relieved to find the hot amber liquid pleasant, if astringent. Sugar? He dared not ask.Thorne hadn't put any out. The Dendarii surely would have, if it expected Naismith to usesugar. Thorne couldn't be making some subtle test already, could it? No sugar, then.

Tea-drinking mercenaries. The beverage didn't seem nearly poisonous enough, somehow, to go withthe display, no, working arsenal, of weapons clamped to the wall: a couple of stunners, aneedier, a plasma arc, a gleaming metal crossbow with an assortment of grenade-bolts in abandolier hung with it. Thorne was supposed to be good at its job. If that was true, he didn'tcare what the creature drank.

"You're in a black study. I take it you've brought us a lovely one this time, eh?" Thorneprodded after another moment's silence.

"The mission assignment, yes." He certainly hoped that was what Thorne meant. The hermaphroditenodded, and raised its brows in encouraging inquiry. "It's a pick-up. Not the biggest one we'veever attempted, by any means—"

He rubbed his lips, a patented Naismith gesture. "We're going to knock over House Bharaputra'sclone crèche, on Jackson's Whole. Clean it out."

Thorne was just crossing its legs; both feet now hit the floor with a thump. "Kill them?" itsaid in a startled voice.

"The clones? No, rescue them! Rescue them all."

"Oh. Whew." Thorne looked distinctively relieved. "I had this horrible vision for asecond—they are children, after all. Even if they are clones."

"Just exactly so." A real smile tugged up the corners of his mouth, surprising him. "I'm ...glad you see it that way."

"How else?" Thorne shrugged. "The clone brain-transplant business is the most monstrous,obscene practice in Bharaputra's whole catalog of slime services. Unless there's something evenworse I haven't heard about yet."

"I think so too." He settled back, concealing his startlement at this instant endorsement ofhis scheme. Was Thorne sincere? He knew intimately, none better, the hidden horrors behind theclone business on Jackson's Whole. He'd lived through them. He had not expected someone who hadnot shared his experiences to share his judgment, though.

House Bharaputra's specialty was not, strictly speaking, cloning. It was the immortalitybusiness, or at any rate, the life extension business. And a very lucrative business it was,for what price could one put on life itself? All the market would bear. The procedureBharaputra sold was medically risky, not ideal ... wagered only against a certainty of imminentdeath by customers who were wealthy, ruthless, and, he had to admit, possessed of unusual coolforesight.

The arrangement was simple, though the surgical procedure upon which it was based wasfiendishly complex. A clone was grown from a customer's somatic cell, gestated in a uterinereplicator and then raised to physical maturity in Bharaputra's crèche, a sort ofastonishingly-appointed orphanage. The clones were valuable, after all, their physicalconditioning and health of supreme importance. Then, when the time was right, they werecannibalized. In an operation that claimed a total success rate of rather less than one hundredpercent, the clone's progenitor's brain was transplanted from its aged or damaged body into aduplicate still in the first bloom of youth. The clone's brain was classified as medical waste.

The procedure was illegal on every planet in the wormhole nexus except Jackson's Whole. Thatwas fine with the criminal Houses that ran the place. It gave them a nice monopoly, a steady

business with lots of practice upon the stream of wealthy off-worlders to keep their surgicalteams at the top of their forms. As far as he had ever been able to tell, the attitude of therest of the worlds toward it all was “out of sight, out of mind." The spark of sympathetic,righteous anger in Thorne's eyes touched him on a level of pain so numb with use he wasscarcely conscious of it any more, and he was appalled to realize he was a heartbeat away frombursting into tears. It's probably a trick. He blew out his breath, another Naismith-ism.

Thorne's brows drew down in intense thought. "Are you sure we should be taking the Ariel?

Last I heard, Baron Ryoval was still alive. It's bound to get his attention."

House Ryoval was one of Bharaputra's minor rivals in the illegal medical end of things. Itsspecialty was manufacturing genetically-engineered or surgically sculptured humans for anypurpose, including sexual, in effect slaves made-to-order; evil, he supposed, but not thekilling evil that obsessed him. But what had the Ariel to do with Baron Ryoval? He hadn't a

clue. Let Thorne worry about it. Perhaps the hermaphrodite would drop more information later.He reminded himself to seize the first opportunity to review the ship's mission logs.

"This mission has nothing to do with House Ryoval. We shall avoid them."

"So I hope," agreed Thorne fervently. It paused, thoughtfully sipping tea. "Now, despite thefact that Jackson's Whole is long overdue for a housecleaning, preferably with atomics, Ipresume we are not doing this just out of the goodness of our hearts. What's, ah, the missionbehind the mission this time?"

He had a rehearsed answer for that one. "In fact, only one of the clones, or rather, one of itsprogenitors, is of interest to our employer. The rest are to be camouflage. Among them,Bharaputra's customers have a lot of enemies. They won't know which one is attacking who. Itmakes our employer's identity, which they very much desire to keep secret, all the moresecure."

"Hadn't we better know which clone we're after, to prevent accidents, or in case we have to cutand run? If our employer wants it alive—or does it matter to them if the clone is alive ordead? If the real target is the old bugger who had it grown."

"They care. Alive. But ... for practical purposes, let us assume that all the clones are theone we're after."

Thorne spread its hands in acquiescence. "It's all right by me." The hermaphrodite's eyesglinted with enthusiasm, and it suddenly smacked its fist into its palm with a crack that madehim jump. "It's about time someone took those Jacksonian bastards on! Oh, this is going to befun!" It bared its teeth in a most alarming grin. "How much help do we have lined up onJackson's Whole? Safety nets?"

"Don't count on any."

"Hm. How much hindrance? Besides Bharaputra, Ryoval, and Fell, of course."

House Fell dealt mainly in weapons. What had Fell to do with any of this? "Your guess is asgood as mine."

Thorne frowned; that was not the usual sort of Naismith answer, apparently.

"I have a great deal of inside information about the crèche, that I can brief you on once we'reen route. Look, Bel, you hardly need me to tell you how to do your job at this late date. Itrust you. Take over the logistics and planning, and I'll check the finals."

Thorne's spine straightened. "Right. How many kids are we talking about?"

"Bharaputra does about one of these transplants a week, on average. Fifty a year, say, thatthey have coming along. The last year of the clones' lives they move them to a special facilitynear House headquarters, for final conditioning. I want to take the whole year's supply fromthat facility. Fifty or sixty kids."

"All packed aboard the Ariel? It'll be tight."

"Speed, Bel, speed."

"Yeah. I think you're right. Timetable?"

"As soon as possible. Every week's delay costs another innocent life." He'd measured out thelast two years by that clock. I have wasted a hundred lives so far. The journey from Earth to

Escobar alone had cost him a thousand Betan dollars and four dead clones.

"I get it," said Thorne grimly, and rose and put away its tea cup. It switched its chair to theclamps in front of its comconsole. "That kid's slated for surgery, isn't it."

"Yes. And if not that one, a crèche-mate."

Thorne began tapping keypads. "What about funds? That your department."is

This time, he laid his palm down with a very slight twist; the computer digested the new data,and this time pronounced him cleared, accepted, blessed. Funded. His pounding heart slowed inrelief.

Thorne keyed in more data, and said over its shoulder, "No question which commando squad youwant to requisition for this one, eh?"

"No question," he echoed hollowly. "Go ahead." He had to get out of here, before the strain ofthe masquerade made him blow away his good start.

"You want your usual cabin?" Thorne inquired.

"Sure." He stood.

"Soon, I gather ..." The hermaphrodite checked a readout in the glowing complexity of logisticsdisplays above the comconsole vid plate. "The palm lock is still keyed for you. Get off yourfeet, you look beat. It's under control."

too bad." Its voice conveyed not the least disappointment. Some rivalry, there? Over what?

"Have the Triumph send over my kit," he ordered. Yes, delegate that thievery too. Delegate itall. "And ... when you get the chance, have a meal sent to my cabin."

"Will do," promised Thorne with a firm nod. "I'm glad to see you've been eating better, by theway, even if you haven't been sleeping. Good. Keep it up. We worry about you, you know."

Eating better, hell. With his stature, keeping his weight down had become a constant battle.He'd starved for three months just to get back into Naismith's uniform, that he'd stolen twoyears ago and now wore. Another wave of weary hatred for his progenitor washed over him. He lethimself out with a casual salute that he trusted would encourage Thorne to keep working, andmanaged to keep from snarling under his breath till the cabin door hissed shut behind him.

There was nothing for it but to try every palm lock in the corridor till one opened. He hopedno Dendarii would come along while he was rattling doors. He found his cabin at last, directlyacross from the hermaphrodite captain's. The door slid open at his touch on the sensor padwithout any heart-stopping glitches this time.

The cabin was a little chamber almost identical to Thorne's, only blanker. He checkedcupboards. Most were bare, but in one he found a set of gray fatigues and a stained techcoverall just his size. A residue of half-used toiletries in the cabin's tiny washroom includeda toothbrush, and his lips twisted in an ironical sneer. The neatly made bed which folded outof the wall looked extremely attractive, and he nearly swooned into it.

The Dendarii had accepted him, accepted his orders with the sameI'm on my way. I've done it.

stupid blind trust with which they followed Naismith's. Like sheep. All he had to do now wasnot screw it up. The hardest part was over.

He'd grabbed a quick shower and was just pulling on Naismith's trousers when his meal arrived.His undress state gave him an excuse to wave the attentive tray-bearing Dendarii out againquickly. The dinner under the covers turned out to be real food, not rations. Grilled vatsteak, fresh-appearing vegetables, non-synthetic coffee, the hot food hot and the cold foodcold, beautifully laid out in little portions finely calculated to Naismith's appetite. Evenice cream. He recognized his progenitor's tastes, and was daunted anew by this rush by unknownpeople to try to give him exactly what he wanted, even in these tiny details. Rank had itsprivileges, but this was insane.

Depressed, he ate it all, and was just wondering if the fuzzy green stuff arranged to fill upall the empty space on the plate was edible too, when the cabin buzzer blatted again.

This time, it was a Dendarii non-com and a float pallet with three big crates on it.

"Ah," he blinked. "My kit. Just set it there in the middle of the floor, for now."

"Yes, sir. Don't you want to assign a batman?" The non-com's inviting expression left no doubtabout who was first in line to volunteer.

"Not ... this mission. We're going to be cramped for space, later. Just leave it."

"I'd be happy to unpack it for you, sir. I packed it all up."

"Quite all right."

"If I've missed anything, just let me know, and I'll run it right over."

"Thank you, corporal." His exasperation leaked into his voice; fortunately, it acted as abrake upon the corporal's enthusiasm. The Dendarii heaved the crates from the float pallet andexited with a sheepish grin, as if to say, Hey, you can't blame me for trying.

He smiled back through set teeth, and turned his attention to the crates as soon as the doorsealed. He flipped up the latches and hesitated, bemused at his own eagerness. It must berather like getting a birthday present. He'd never had a birthday present in his life. So,

let's make up for some lost time.

The first lid folded back to reveal clothes, more clothes than he'd ever owned before. Techcoveralls, undress kit, a dress uniform—he held up the grey velvet tunic, and raised his browsat the shimmer and the silver buttons—boots, shoes, slippers, pajamas, all regulation, all cutdown to perfect fit. And civilian clothes, eight or ten sets, in various planetary and galacticstyles and social levels. An Escobaran business suit in red silk, a Barrayaran quasi-militarytunic and piped trousers, ship knits, a Betan sarong and sandals, a ragged jacket and shirt andpants suitable for a down-on-his-luck dockworker anywhere. Abundant underwear. Three kinds ofchronos with build-in comm units, one Dendarii regulation, one very expensive commercial model,one appearing cheap and battered, which turned out to be finest military surplus underneath.And more.

He moved to the second crate, flipped up the lid, and gaped. Space armor. Full-bore attack

unit space armor, power and life support packs fully charged, weapons loaded and locked. Justhis size. It seemed to gleam with its own dark and wicked glow, nested in its packing. Thesmell of it hit him, incredibly military, metal and plastic, energy and chemicals ... oldsweat. He drew the helmet out and stared with wonder into the darkened mirror of its visor. Hehad never worn space armor, though he'd studied it in holovids till his eyes crossed. Asinister, deadly carapace ...

He unloaded it all, and laid the pieces out in order upon the floor. Strange splashes, scars,and patches deckled the gleaming surfaces here and there. What weapons, what strikes, had beenpowerful enough to mar that metalloy surface? What enemies had fired them? Every scar, herealized, fingering them, had been intended death. This was not pretend.

He pushed away the cold shiver of doubt. It was very disturbing. No. If he can do it, I can

He tried to ignore the repairs and mysterious stains on the pressure suit and its soft,do it.

absorbent under-liner as he packed it all away again and stowed the crate. Blood? Shit? Burns?Oil? It was all cleaned and odorless now, anyway.

The third crate, smaller than the second, proved to contain a set of half-armor, lacking built-in weapons and not meant for space, but rather for dirtside combat under normal or near-normalpressure, temperature, and atmospheric conditions. Its most arresting feature was a commandheadset, a smooth duralloy helmet with built-in telemetry and a vid projector in a flange abovethe forehead that placed any data on the net right before the commander's eyes. Data flow wascontrolled by certain facial movements and voice commands. He left it out on the counter toexamine more thoroughly later, and repacked the rest.

By the time he finished arranging all the clothing in the cabin's cupboards and drawers, he'dbegun to regret sending the batman away so precipitously. He fell onto the bed, and dimmed thelights. When he next woke, he should be on his way to Jackson's Whole... .

He'd just begun to doze when the cabin comm buzzed. He lurched up to answer it, mustering areasonably coherent "Naismith here," in a sleep-blurred voice.

"Miles?" said Thorne's voice. "The commando squad's here."

"Uh ... good. Break orbit as soon as you're ready, then."

"Don't you want to see them?" Thorne said, sounding surprised.

Inspection. He inhaled. "Right. I'll ... be along. Naismith out." He hurried back into hisuniform trousers, taking a jacket with proper insignia this time, and quickly called up aschematic of the ship's interior layout on the cabin's comconsole. There were two locks forcombat drop shuttles, port and starboard. Which one? He traced a route to both.

The operative shuttle hatch was the first one he tried. He paused a moment in shadow andsilence at the curve of the corridor, before he was spotted, to take in the scene.

The loading bay was crowded with a dozen men and women in grey camouflage flight suits, alongwith piles of equipment and supplies. Hand and heavy weapons were stacked in symmetricalarrays. The mercenaries sat or stood, talking noisily, loud and crude, punctuated with barks oflaughter. They were all so big, generating too much energy, knocking into each other in half-horseplay, as if seeking an excuse to shout louder. They bore knives and other personal weaponson belts or in holsters or on bandoliers, an ostentatious display. Their faces were a blur,animal-like. He swallowed, straightened, and stepped among them.

The effect was instantaneous. "Heads up!" someone shouted, and without further orders theyarranged themselves at rigid attention in two neat, dead silent rows, each with his or herbundle of equipment at their feet. It was almost more frightening than the previous chaos.

With a thin smile, he walked forward, and pretended to look at each one. A last heavy dufflearced out of the shuttle hatch to land with a thump on the deck, and the thirteenth commandosqueezed through, stood up, and saluted him.

He stood paralyzed with panic. Whatinhell was it? He stared at a flashing belt buckle, then

tilted his head back, straining his neck. The freaking thing was eight feet tall. The

enormous body radiated power that he could feel almost like a wave of heat, and the face—theface was a nightmare. Tawny yellow eyes, like a wolf's, a distorted, outslung mouth with fangs, dammit, long white canines locked over the edges of the carmine lips. The huge handshad claws, thick, powerful, razor-edged—enamelled with carmine polish... . What? His gaze

traveled back up to the monster's face. The eyes were outlined with shadow and gold tint,echoed by a little gold spangle glued decoratively to one high cheekbone. The mahogany-coloredhair was drawn back in an elaborate braid. The belt was cinched in tightly, emphasizing a